Arc welding



Nw, a, w32., I R, www @www ARC WELDING Filed Sept. 4, 1930 hvenGO's/z @raid E. Bwophnj', bg His jcfbovvweg.

vide anim Patented Nov. 8, 1932 UNITED STATES `PATENT ori-lcs GERALD n. enorm, or scnmmcranv, Naw Yoan, AssIGNoB `'ro e nume l comm, A conroiwrron or New Yonx l ABG WELDING application ma september 4, leso. sum1 no. 479,71?.

My invention relates to are welding in which the welding arcl is maintained between a rod or wire constituting one electrode and the work constituting the other electrode. The rod or pencil4 may be madeof a fusible metal 'or alloy or of carbon or some similar material. In the first case the welding is known as metallic are welding and, in the second case, as carbon arc welding.

Unless themolten metal of the weld is suitably protected durin .the weldin operation from` the .surroun ing atmosp ere, it w1ll unite therewith forming compounds that greatly affect its ductillt It has been proposed to create about t e arcand'molten metal" of the weld selected atmospheres through the use of fluxes which decompose in the heat of the are liberating the desired gaseous enveloping medium. It has also been proposed to muiiie the parts at the seam to exclude air. Fluxes producn slag coatings on the weld metal have also een employed for shielding the molten metal.

My invent1on combines these several methand means of protecting the weld metal so that a weld of uniform and pleasingv external appearance which is both tough and ductile in texture may be produeed while at the same time greatl increasing the efliciency of the arc during t e welding operation.

An object of my invention is toprovide an improved method of welding in which the work parts at the seam to be welded are shielded from the surrounding atmosphere by an enclosin chamber part of whichis consumed durin t e welding operation inthe formation o a protective medium within this chamber and immediately over the fused metal. i

A further object of my invention is to proroved welding assembly for readily accomp shing the `above-specified method 5o come apparent from the following descripof welding.

A further obj ect of my invention is to provide an .elongated shielding member adapted to engage the work parts on each side of the seam to be welded and to form therewith an enclosed chamber within which the welding operation may be performed.

Further objects of my invention will be- -for clamping the work parts leand 2 to a tion takenfin connection with the accompanying drawing, and the scope of my .invention will be pointed out in the appended claims. y

In the drawing Fig. 1V shows one assembly including one form of shielding member which I have found suitable for carrying into effect my improved method of welding, and Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the assembly shown in Fig. 1.

The welding assembly shown'in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises work parts 1 and 2, a shielding member 3., 'and clampin bars 4, 5 and 6 for holding the shield 3 1n position and supporting member 7. rlhe supporting member 7 may form the top of a. welding table the bed of a machine, or some other suita le work supporting means. The ,sev-

eral parts are clamped tothe supporting 70 member through the agenc of c amps 8. The weldin electrode 9 in t e particular illustration sown is fed to the work through the shield 3 by an automatic arc welding head 10, of whlch only the lower portion is shown in 'the drawing. Manual vor" semiautomaticA feeding of the electrode may be used. The supporting member 7 is provided with a backing or chill member 11 located immediately below the same between the juxtaposed work parts 1 and 2.

The purpose of the shielding member 3 is to form an enclosure in which the welding operation is performed. `Theshield is pref-l erably made of a combustible material such as paper. In the presence of the heatv of the arc or due tocontact with the electrode which becomes quite hot during the welding operation, a -portion of this paper is burned producing a `gaseous atmosphere 'of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide within the enclosure defined by`i the shield. The atmosphere will be formed predominantly of -carbon monoxide because of the small amount of oxygen present to support combustion within the chamber defined by the shield. The shield should be made of paper which does not burn readily, and I have found a er loaded with kaolin or clay to be suitab e oi' this purpose. Any paper-may be rendered C vention the wel suitable for the purpose by saturating it in a solution of sodium or potassium silicate. During the welding operation some of the clay or silicate included in the paper will 5 be deposited upon the molten weld metal where it will act as an additional shield flor the weld metal.

One convenient method of forming the shielding member 3 is to fold upon itself several times a sheet of paper or to use several sheets of paper, place the resulting built up sheet upon the work parts over the seam between the parts, arch its central portion immediately above the seam to form an en- 5 closure such as illustrated in the drawing, and then clamping the edge-portions of the paper to maintain the paper with its central portion spaced from the weld to form an enclosure extending along the seam to be welded. Best results are obtained when one end of this elongated shield is closed. In the drawing this has been accomplished by means of a clamping bar 6 held in position relative to the shield and work parts by clamps 8. A

Instead of using a shield made of folded paper as illustrated in the drawing other shields may be used. For example, the shield may comprise a preformed troughlike member which may be laid in an inverted position over the seam and suitably clamped in position. The shield may also be made up of a plurality of parts such as a frame, a coverin of paper or like material and means or clamping the paper to the rame. The top portion of the shieldin member immediately above the seam may e readily separable as by slitting or providing it with a portion of reduced section in order to per- ,40 mit the welding electrode to pass through it freely.. During the welding operation if the shield is made of paper or equivalent material its top portion will become charred and partially burned due to the action of the arc and the heated electrode will easily Vcut a slit through the same. The condition of the shield after a welding operation is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the stippled portion of the shield representing the partly burned portion.

During the kwelding operation a certain amount of carbon will be precipitated on the ool of molten metal in the work at the seam orming one terminal of the welding are. T his carbon will combine 'with any oxygen dlssolvedin the metal with the liberation of heat. This added heat will tend to keep the surface of the heated metal molten for a longer period of time than would otherwise occur, an themetal is able to free itself of occluded gases quite readily. The precipitated caron also combines with the metal, increasing its carbon content.

When weldin'in accordance with my ining arc for a given current melts the electrode more rapidly and forms a greater pool of molten metal at the seam than if the weldin o eration were conducted in air. The shiel thus acts to increase the eective heat of the arc. This gives greater penetration and superheats the metal which consequently remains molten longer. The molten metal thus has a greater opportunity to free itself of occluded or dissolved gases. Because of the shield the molten metal also cools less rapidly and the slow cooling also produces an improved texture of welded Joint. The resulting weld is tough and ductile and quite superlor to welds made in air. The welding arc 1s very quiet in its operation and the bead of weld metal in the seam smooth and fused in well at the edges to the parent metal. The surface of the bead, instead of presenting a plurality of irregular cooling seams as is usually the case, as a pleasing appearance due to the uniform spaced cooling-seams resultin when welding in accordance with my met od.

Various modifications of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art. Instead of using a shield formed of combustible material such as paper shields of asbestos or thin walled glass may be used. When such ma- 'terials are used however, the reducing atmos here of carbon monoxide obtained with com ustible substances is lacking. The mechanical shielding elect, the increased e'ectiveness of the arc, the retarded cooling of the deposited metal, and the improved ductility of the weld metal will nevertheless be obtained. So long as the seam between the parts to be welded is enclosed in a chamber of-uxing material through which the welding operation is performed and within which the are is enclosed, the quality of the weld will be greatly improved, and the eiliciency of the arc increased. Best results are obtained, however, when using a shield of paper as described above. Thus, while I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, such modifications and variations are contemplated as fall within the true spiritand scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. Themethod of arc welding which comprises enclosingthe part to be welded in a chamber having a wall of fluxing material. fusing said part by means of an arc enclosed 1z0 in said chamber and simultaneously destroying by the application of heat a part of said chamber wall to form a protective medium over the fused met-al.

2. The method of arc welding which com- 12b' prises enclosing the part to be welded in a chamber having a wall of carbonaceous material, and Ifusing said part by means of an arc enclosed in said chamber while simultaneously burning a portion of said chamber CFI wall to form a protective atmosphere about the arc and fused metal. Y 3. The method of electric arc weldin which comprises placing a plurality of wor parts in juxtaposition, forming about the seam between said parts an enclosing chamber having a wallv of cellulosic material, maintaining an arc within said chamber between the end of an electrode inserted within said chamber and the work parts at the seam, and burning a slit through said wall of cellulosic material for said electrode while progressively moving said electrode along the seam between said parts to form a welded joint in the presence of the combustion products of said cellulosic material.

4. The method of electric arc welding which comprises placing a plurality of wor parts in juxtaposition, covering the seam between said parts and the portions of the parts adjacent said seam with a combustible carbonaceous shield, arching that Lportion of the shield immediately above the seam to form a Welding chamber, and fusing the work parts' at the seam by means of an arc enclosed in said chamber while simultaneously burning a portion of said shield to form an actively reducing atmosphere about the welding arc and the pool of molten metal in theseam.

5. The method .of electric arc weldin which comprises placing a plurality of wor parts in juxtaposition, covering the seam between said parts and the portions of the parts adjacent said seam with a destructible shield of non-inflammable paper, arching the lcentral portion of the paper immediately above the seam to form an enclosure for the welding arc, inserting a welding electrode through the arched portion of said paper, establishin an arc between the end of said electrode an the work parts at the seam, and moving said elecoperation may be performed.

8. shieldmg member of cellulosic mateu rial impregnated with a slag-forming material for use in arc welding havin edge portions arranged to engage the wor parts on each side of a seam to be welded, and a midportion spaced therefrom to form a vaulted enclosure for thehwelding arc.

9. A shield cinch-inflammable paper for use in arc welding having edge portions arranged to make a continuous engagement with the edges of the work parts on each side of the seam to be welded between said parts, and a central portion spaced from the work parts a greater distance than the length of the welding arc to form with the ed -pora vaulted enclosure within which a welding tions an enclosure within which a welding operation may be performed.

10. An arched shield of iniiammable material impregnated with a slag-formmg material having a configuration corresponding p to the seam between a plurality of parts to be welded and edge portions on each side of its arched portion for engaging the work parts on each side of the seam to be welded to form a vaulted enclosure within which a welding operation may be performed.

In witnessnwhereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 3rd da of Se tember 1930.

En n. isRorHY.

trode along the seam to form a welded joint beneath said arched paper covering.

6. A shielding member adapted to cover a seam to be Welded and to enclose a welding arc established between the work parts at the seam and a welding electrode extendin' through said shielding member, said shielcf' ing member having edge portions arranged to engage the work arts on each side of the seam to be welde and a mid-portion, separable for the insertion of said electrode, spaced from thework rts to form a vaulted enclosure within whi j a' welding operation may be j y 7. A s eldin member adapted to cover a seam to be wel ed and to enclose a welding larc established between the work parts at the' seam and a 4welding electrode extending through said shielding member, said shielding member `having edge portions arranged to engage the work parts on each side and at one end of the seam to be welded, and a midportion, separable for the insertion of said electrode, spaced from the work parts to form 

